Books and brews for literacy

by Julie Tollefson

On Wednesday, I have a date.

It’s a first for me. A local civic organization asked me to participate in its third annual Authors and Appetizers fund raiser as a featured author. I get to talk about my writing and hang with people dedicated to promoting literacy in our community. What an honor!

Books and Brews: Short Fiction Picnic Pack.

The organization, the local chapter of Altrusa International, has served the Lawrence, Kansas, community since 1951. Members support a number of community literacy efforts, including my favorite: Born to Read, in which every baby born at our local hospital receives a new book. More than 15,000 babies so far have taken home books courtesy of Altrusa.

The fund-raiser part of the Authors and Appetizers festivities includes a silent auction, and when organizers asked me to contribute I happily agreed. In the months since their request, I’ve thought long and hard about what to donate. I wanted to create a basket or package of items that would represent my writing and would tie into the themes of the talk I intend to give: the beauty of Kansas, travel, nature, and how combinations of those elements appear in both my fiction and nonfiction.

I settled on what I’m calling Books and Brews: Short Fiction Picnic Pack consisting of a small soft-sided cooler, a water bottle and a couple of coozies celebrating Kansas wildlife and parks, plus copies of the four publications in which my short stories have appeared: Flash and Bang: The Short Mystery Fiction Society Anthology, Fish Nets: The Second Guppy Anthology, and two issues of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. (And just to make sure someone will bid on it, I’ve included a six pack of craft beer from the first legal brewery to open in Kansas after Prohibition.)

Now comes the hard part: Talking about myself. Wish me luck!